Literary Analysis:
Fahrenheit 451 & Merchant of Venice
By Bret Rodriguez
Choices
The choices in Fahrenheit 451 and
Merchant of Venice both effected the
characters and the outcome of the story.
The main characters in both books had to
choose between what is right or wrong,
good or bad, and even right and easy.
Fahrenheit 451
Merchant of Venice
• Montag’s choice to kill Beatty
• Montag’s choice to keep a book
Both
• No Mercy
• Faber’s choice to show him his
listening device
• Montag’s choice to listen to Clarisse
• Montag’s choice to stand up and not
join all the people like Mildred who
take the easy path and have “fun.”
• Social Outcasts
• Being forced to do
something against your
will
• Doing what you believe
is right
• Shylock chooses to give Antonio
the full punishment and not be
merciful
• Bassanio must choose the
correct casket in order to marry
Portia
• Shylock’s daughter must choose
between her father or Lorenzo
• Portia has no choice in who
must marry her
• Antonio must choose between
giving Bassanio the money to go
to (insert place here) or not in
order to keep a good friendship
between them
• Montag’s choice to be apart of the
Book People and make a difference
• Antonio choose to join most
people and be anti-Semitism
against Shylock
• The woman on the porch chose to
be burned alive with her books
• Antonio deprives Shylock of his
money and religion and takes a
minor role in relationship of Portia
and Bassanio
• Montag must burn his house
• Jessica and Launcelot Gobbo
run away from Shylock and join
Bassanio and his entourage.
Choices
(cont.)
Merchant of Venice
Fahrenheit 451
Easy Way
Join People like Mildred
Challenging Way
Be like Faber
Difficult Way
Join Book People
Both
Another similar choice that was
made in both books was to
choose between the Gold casket,
the easy way where you get what
you want quickly with not effort.
The Silver Casket, you put some
effort in but don’t apply it. And the
Lead Casket, where you try very
hard to get what you want and
sacrifice some things.
Gold Casket
Represents what every man
wants.
Silver Casket
Represents what a man should
deserve.
Lead Casket
Represents the man who choose
this must give and risk
everything he has.
Dualities: Fahrenheit 451
Guy MontagIn the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, Guy
Montag begins as a “normal” person who does his
job without question. But later in the book you
learn that he has been keeping books from the
places he was burning. You see he had a bookburning, not knowing side to him and he also had
an inquisitive side that question, for instance, why
someone would die with their books.
Faber and BeattyFaber is the complete opposite of Beatty. While
Faber tries to persuade Montag, Beatty tries to
manipulate him. Faber is seen as the cowardly
guy who is trying to live undetected, where as
Beatty is the opinionated man who is living life as
if he would die tomorrow.
Dualities: Merchant of Venice
Portia
In the beginning of Merchant of Venice, Portia seems like a woman who
will stand by and not care about who becomes her husband or if
Antonio dies, but really she is cunning, witty, and intelligent. For
example when she gives clues to Bassanio and finds a loophole in
Shylock’s bond in order to save Antonio’s life.
Social Classes
Fahrenheit 451
Applying
what they
know
Guy Montag,
Granger
The Understanding
Clarisse McClellan,
Professor Faber
Merchant of Venice
Fahrenheit 451 and Merchant of
Venice both have social classes
that divide their society.
Merchant of Venice is more
about political standing while
Fahrenheit 451 is about
understanding what is
happening.
The knowing
NoblesPortia,
Duke of
Venice
Rich/PowerfulBassanio, Prince of
Morocco, Prince of
Arragon
Middle Class-Jessica(Shylock’s
daughter), Antonio,
Captain Beatty
Servants- Nerissa, Launcelot Gobbo, Old
Gobbo, Leonardo
The oblivious/Ignorant
Mrs. Bowles, Mildred Montag,
Mrs.. Phelps,
Merchants-Shylock
Conclusion
In summary, Fahrenheit 451 and Merchant of
Venice are connected by the kinds of choices the
characters make, the dualities in the characters, and
the social structure that sets those characters apart
from one another.
Questions?
質問 ~Japanese
Fragen? ~German
Questions? ~French
Vragen ~Dutch
Domande? ~Italian
Вопросы ~Russian
¿Preguntas? ~Spanish
ﾎﾊﾌ� ~ Chinese